In the NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver's championship battle, Rusty Wallace, needing an 18th place finish or better to clinch the championship, would manage to overcome late-race issues and maintain the 15th position, finishing three laps behind Earnhardt to clinch his first and only Winston Cup Series championship.[5]
The race was marred by the death of independent driver Grant Adcox. On lap 203 of the race, Adcox would crash in the first turn, with the front of the car accelerating into the outside wall, destroying the front of the car and the car being set on fire. After being sent to the Georgia Baptist Hospital, Adcox was pronounced dead at 4:15 PM EST due to massive head and chest injuries.[6]
Differing accounts on how the crash first occurred exist. According to Adcox's crew chief, Pete Card, Jim Sauter, who was ahead of Adcox, drifted down the turn and hit the right rear of Adcox's car. However, according to Sauter, Sauter stated that he was both was hit by Adcox and was behind Adcox at the time of the accident.[6] A reporter for The Anniston Star who was at the track, Mark McCarter, reported that Adcox's car blew a tire.[7][8] In a press statement given out by Goodyear spokesman Bill King, he disputed this, saying that the crash was caused by a mechanical failure.[6]
Atlanta International Raceway is a 1.522-mile race track in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Winston Cup Series stock car races since its inauguration in 1960.
The venue was bought by Speedway Motorsports in 1990. In 1994, 46 condominiums were built over the northeastern side of the track. In 1997, to standardize the track with Speedway Motorsports' other two intermediate ovals, the entire track was almost completely rebuilt. The frontstretch and backstretch were swapped, and the configuration of the track was changed from oval to quad-oval, with a new official length of 1.54-mile (2.48 km) where before it was 1.522-mile (2.449 km). The project made the track one of the fastest on the NASCAR circuit.
Qualifying was split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, November 16, at 2:00 PM EST. Each driver would have one lap to set a time. During the first round, the top 20 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. If a driver was not able to guarantee a spot in the first round, they had the option to scrub their time from the first round and try and run a faster lap time in a second round qualifying run, held on Saturday, November 17, at 10:30 AM EST. As with the first round, each driver would have one lap to set a time. For this specific race, positions 21-40 would be decided on time,[9] and depending on who needed it, a select amount of positions were given to cars who had not otherwise qualified but were high enough in owner's points; up to two were given.
Alan Kulwicki, driving for his own AK Racing team, would win the pole, setting a time of 30.591 and an average speed of 179.112 miles per hour (288.253 km/h) in the first round.[10][11]
